


Snakes don't prey on humans

by LemonKing



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Anal Sex, Banana Fish Smut Week 2020, Eventual Smut, Feelings Realization, Gay Sex, Hand Jobs, Introspection, M/M, Masturbation, Oral Sex, Sexual Frustration, Teasing, Unrequited Love, Yut-Lung just wants to be loved
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:01:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23632774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LemonKing/pseuds/LemonKing
Summary: "Say, Blanca... do you love me?"Blaca froze for a moment; then he chose not to respond.Yut-Lung laughed with anger:"I know:pity cannot be love."
Relationships: Blanca & Lee Yut-Lung, Blanca/Lee Yut-Lung
Comments: 8
Kudos: 79





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, everyone!!!  
> This is my first work in english... I hope you enjoy it!  
> I really love the relationship between Blanca and Yut-Lung, they are my otp in Banana Fish! :) 
> 
> -The verses are from D. H. Lawrence's poem "Snake".

Blanca was at the service of Yut-Lung Lee.  
And that cohabitation maybe was useful for both of them.  
The Chinese man was often alone in his room, but sometimes they talked in the living room, sitting in front of each other.  
Sometimes Yut-Lung asked to be followed in his bedroom, but Blanca never did that. And Yut-Lung never ordered him to do it neither.  
Blanca knew that the Chinese sought companionship, but he wanted their relationship to remain the same: he would do anything to protect him. But nothing more.

Yut-Lung wanted to be protected and loved, so he was trying to protect himself with Blanca on his side.  
He found the tall man really fascinating; he loved his big shoulders and his brown tied hair.  
Having Blanca around helped him to feel stronger in achieving his goals, but he didn't trust him fully.  
He knew about his past with Ash Lynx and about his compassion for the young boy.  
Yut-Lung wanted to be closer to Blanca, in order to feeling safe and having the opportunity to have a bond with someone.  
Even though he was full of hate, he desperately aimed for _love_.

***

_[A snake came to my water-trough  
On a hot, hot day, and I in pyjamas for the heat,  
To drink there.] _

  


During an autumn evening, Yut-Lung was taking a bath and Blanca was waiting for him outside the door.  
The wind took the leaves away with his cold strength and they were both listening to the song of the dancing trees.  
"You can come in", said the Chinese man. He added some bubble bath in the bathtub filled with hot water.  
The heat was rising and his skin began to change is colour in a reddish tone.  
He was lying down with the neck out of the water.

"There's no reason for comin'", replied Blanca -his back was against the closed door.

"But I want you to come."

"Then okay."

Blanca got accustomed to satisfying his every whim, so he entered without complain.  
He opened the door and walked in the room: he looked at the man, noticing on the slim face a pair of red cheeks.

"It's hot in there, I guess."

" _Now_ , it is."

The Chinese smiled, but Blanca pretended not to understand the joke.  
He sat on the bathtub's border; he felt warm because of the steam around.  
His fingers slipped on his shirt and opened the first button to free his neck; his eyes were fixed at the wall in front of him.  
He knew Yut-Lung was watching.  
The Chinese was enchanted by that gesture and the profile of the other.  
He sat up, so he could be near to him. His chest was now exposed and the water covered from the hips down.

"Blanca."

"Yes, master?"

"Kiss me."

Blanca opened his eyes wide and then frowned.  
What's with that request?  
Yut-Lung entertained himself poking him. He didn't like that attitude.

"No."

The Chinese didn't expect anything different from him, but he wasn't pleased with that answer. People had never rejected him sexually.  
Blanca was always calm and obedient, so he wanted to see a different side of him; a side that maybe Ash knew. Yut-Lung hated the idea that someone else -Ash in particular- could know his guard better than him.  
He was curious about how Blanca was in the past; he knew everything about him, but only facts, not his emotions or his different facial expressions.  
To be fair, he didn't even imagine him to have sex with someone -nor even his (dead) wife.

"It's an order."

He used his position against him to see what he would do.  
At those words, Blanca hold his tongue ‘cause he couldn’t go against his master’s will. But he didn’t appreciate the attitude nor the idea of kissing him.  
But he had to.  
So he remained silent.  
He knew that Yut-Lung usually used his body to get what he wanted; two of his most effective weapons were his beauty and his sensual way to spread legs -but the most powerful one was his venomous hatred. The poison of Yut-Lung operated slowly and slowly infected the preys till death; he was like a _snake_.  
Love and destruction.  
Love or _self_ -destruction.  
He couldn’t escape this way of living; Yut-Lung knew he’d die like that: _poisoned_.

The tall man turned to the other and looked at his lips. Well, with that face it couldn’t be hard to kiss him.  
Yut-Lung was waiting in silence; inside he was burning with desire. And his eyes didn’t hide that feeling.  
Blanca blushed a little but maintained his composure.  
He bent down to reach Yut-Lung’s face; he leaned against the wall to keep the balance -and by doing so, he blocked the other by any retreat and kept him in that position.  
His lips pressed against the thin mouth.  
Yut-Lung half-closed his eyes to exhort Blanca to do more, but the man wasn’t even looking at him: he watched the wall which supported his weight.

The kiss was empty.  
Blanca continued to touch his lips numbly, without moving an inch of his body.  
The Chinese didn’t expect more, nor the man would have been on fire; but he didn’t like that kiss. Not at all.  
He felt like Blanca didn’t feel any affection for him. And that was what hurt him.

After a minute, Blanca separated their lips and went back to look at the other.  
Yut-Lung frowned. He seemed not pleased at all.  
Before the man could say something, the Chinese turned his head around and spit:

“You suck at kissing.”

Blanca felt sorry.

  


_[In the deep, strange-scented shade of the great dark carob tree_  
_I came down the steps with my pitcher  
And must wait, must stand and wait, for there he was at the trough before me.] _


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!  
> Thank you for having read the first chapter!  
> Here I am with the second one!!!
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

"So, you comin’?”

Yut-Lung looked at Blanca with his arms folded, waiting for an answer.  
He wore a sky-blue sleeveless shirt and a long white skirt, which touched his ankles; those clothes didn't wrap his body in a sensual shape, but he seemed more skinny and feminine.  
The colors were light and matched the pale skin well; only his dark hair -tied in a long ponytail- made a contrast like an ink's waterfall along his left shoulder.  
Blanca stared at him for a moment and then opened his mouth:

"Where?"

"I want to go shopping. But, you know, I need a bodyguard."

Blanca smiled and nodded.  
They went out together and walked side by side in silence.

There were a lot of people in front of the stores and they could barely see something.  
But then Yut-Lung stopped and Blanca followed his gaze: he was stare at a red stone exposed in a shop window.

"Do you like it, sir?"

The Chinese shrugged his shoulders: "I like it and I don't like it at the same time: this colour... reminds me of blood". His eyes became lack of feelings.

"But I think it suits you, sir."

"... Yeah."

_[He reached down from a fissure in the earth-wall in the gloom  
And trailed his yellow-brown slackness soft-bellied down, over the edge of the stone trough  
And rested his throat upon the stone bottom]_

***

Blanca was following his master in that walk, but now he stood back. He looked at the slim figure in front on him.  
He wanted to do something for the other; Yut-Lung didn't say a word anymore after that short talk, nor bought the red stone. Maybe he was angry or felt miserable.  
And Blanca didn't want him to feel that way, 'cause he knew how much he was suffering everyday; he was trapped in a cruel world like Ash. But, unlike Ash, he didn't even fight for himself.  
He didn't seem to want to change his condition, only to achieve his goal; be unhappy and alone was the price to pay. And he accepted that.  
Were the events or he by himself who decided how he should have lived? Had he chosen his life or had his life had been chosen by others?

While he was thinking all those things, Yut-Lung stopped again.  
He nodded to Blanca to follow him inside a luxurious and expensive store that sold Italian fashion designer for men: blazers, shirts, jackets, etc.  
It was strange for his master to dress in men's clothes, so he asked:

“Have you seen anything?”

“Yeah, I don’t like your tie. I wanna buy you a new one.”

The tall man didn’t expect such treatment from the other, so he smiled and made a yes with the movement of the head; apparently, his taste in clothing were horrible.  
Yut-Lung vanished and came back with a _red_ tie. If there was a meaning behind that, Blanca didn’t know. And never asked.

The Chinese man put his hand close his neck and took the black tie off; it fell on the ground, but nobody cared.  
Blanca had his eyes on the full-length mirror in front of them: their body were closed and Yut-Lung looked so slender... kinda cute.  
The man felt his thin fingers on the skin through the collar; that hands had killed people, but now they felt gentle.

Yut Lung tied the knot around the neck of the big man, looking at his face and not at what he was doing: he liked to watch his lips; even if their kiss tasted bad.  
Once finished, he turned to the mirror: they both could see themselves close to each other; Blanca were big in comparison to the slight pale body of his master.

“You look like a girl”, noticed Blanca; he said in a sweet tone.

“I know.”

“You enjoy that?”

“Yeah. And you?”

Blanca blushed: “It’s okay.”

Yut-Lung knew about his past relationship, so he wanted to make his appearance as girly as possible in front of him.

Only later their eyes moved on the red tie.

***

They went back home.  
Blanca thanked him a lot of times, while Yut-Lung admired his beauty in that new accessory.  
They both sat on the couch with a cup of hot tea in their hands.  
Yut-Lung had changed his clothes, but Blanca didn’t -and the Chinese found that... adorable.  
He put the head on his shoulder quietly; he really thought he had fun that day for the first time in a while. Blanca didn’t talk a lot, but he was participating.  
And it was enough.  
He closed his eyes, feeling the big, warm body against his cheek. Blanca smelled like cinnamon, so his scent was bitter and sweet; spicy and delicious.

“Say, Blanca... Do you love me?”

Blanca froze for a moment; then he chose not to respond.  
Yut-Lung laughed with anger:

“I know: _pity cannot be love_.”

“It’s not-”

“So, do you like me?”

“... No. Mine is affection, not-”

“It’s okay.”

And it was okay for real. Yut-Lung wasn’t worthy of love.  
But at the same time that answer hurt.  
He didn’t believe in that ‘affection’ nor in his loyalty.

“Can you betray me?”

Blanca felt sorry for him: he didn’t want him to suffer even more. But he didn’t want to lie to his master.  
At that question, he held his breath for a moment, then spoke:

“I’ll protect you, no matter what.”

“It won’t be enough.”

Yut-Lung wanted to cry.  
Even though he lived without love, he needed love to survive.  
Even though he rejected affection, he was greedy of love.  
He was hoping to be saved from Blanca, but it was only a foolish thought: Blanca was his sword and shield, nothing more. He was just an instrument.

Yut-Lung didn’t deserve salvation. He knew he will die: he was the hungry snake who ate itself.

_[And where the water had dripped from the tap,  
in a small clearness,  
He slipped with his straight mouth,  
Softly drank through his straight gums,  
into his slack long body,_

_Silently.]_


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: light sexual content
> 
> (Blanca you can resist him but not for so long, I swear)

It was a trap.  
It was a trap and Blanca knew that. He tried to warn his master, but he didn't want to listen.

There was a shooting between the men of Golzine and the Ash's boys; both of them counting on the help of Yut-Lung and Blanca. Both sides relied on the two man: the Ash's gang on Blanca, the Golzine's men on Yut-Lung.  
But Yut-Lung were only used by them.  
The Chinese told Blanca that he knew it and he was okay with that, 'cause he were using them too. And, if he had really trusted that men, he didn't hire Blanca.  
But it was dangerous.  
The Golzine's men were using not the young Chinese boy, but his hatred. And it was too powerful to control, even for Yut-Lung himself.

So, when the Chinese chased Ash with blinded rage, jealousy and all the heavy feelings which made him move towards his enemy, Blanca stopped him.  
He pushed his master against a wall:

"We need to go: it's too dangerous. Golzine's men won't hesitate to kill you if you get in their way.  
Golzine won't let you kill Ash instead of him, you know that."

"Let go of me!"

Yut-Lung screamed and struggled under the pressure of the grip of Blanca's hands on his wrists; the Chinese hold a knife wrapped tight in his fingers.  
The tall man wrestled the sharp weapon away from his master and he turned himself in time to hit two men behind him; they collapsed on the ground, but a third man succeeded in shooting him on a shoulder, before he ran away to chasing Ash.  
Blanca narrowed his eyes and groaned, but he didn't collapse on the ground.  
He remained standing, protecting his master, who was immobile in the same position.  
Yut-Lung felt fear. He wasn't looking at Blanca, he didn't even realize he was shooting.  
Not until they were alone, embraced by a muffled and distant sound, nearly silence.

***

When the two were at home, Yut-Lung, who assisted Blanca in the car, helped him to undress for medication.  
He felt stupid, looking at that wound.  
Blanca didn't want any doctor, he could treat himself on his own. So Yut-Lung only watched.  
He bit his lips, ashamed of himself.

When Blanca finished, the Chinese sat near him on the sofa; he touched his bandage kindly and sighed.

"Don't worry, I'm okay", Blanca reassured him.  
It was strange to see Yut-Lung like that; he wasn't screaming or scolding him. He seemed worried.  
"What's up?"

Yut-Lung frowned and bowed his head, to not be seen from the other:  
"I'm confused by you, Blanca.  
You saved my life, but...  
You stopped me, back then, in order to save me... or to save Ash?"

The Chinese pressed his fingertips on the skin of the big chest, but Blanca didn’t make any sound.  
He looked at his Master, feeling... pity.  
How lonely could be to not trust people.  
But he was not totally wrong: Blanca only wanted to save him from becoming worse; he wanted to help him to escape his fate, at least for that day.  
He failed with Ash, but it’s the reason why he tried, even today, to do something little for him.

“I wanted to save you, Sir.  
You have to be careful.”

The little fingers on his chest felt warm.  
Yut-Lung never seemed so vulnerable, not even when he was drunk.  
Blanca touched his wrist with his hand; in a gentle way, like a caress.  
The Chinese blushed and looked at him with an intense gaze; he wanted to kiss him so bad, ‘cause it's the only way he knew to demonstrating... something. He was not familiar with affection or gratitude.  
Blanca read his intention on his face, but he didn’t nothing.  
Yut-Lung asked:

“Will you stay in my bed tonight?”

Blanca felt heavy. How someone can be so beautiful yet so unhappy? His charm was strong, but his words sounded pathetic, desperate.  
Ash never asked him to do sex with him.  
Yut-Lung had nothing else but his lonely and abused appeal.  
So, Blanca nodded.

_[Someone was before me at my water-trough,  
And I, like a second-comer, waiting._

_He lifted his head from his drinking, as cattle do,  
And looked at me vaguely, as drinking cattle do,  
And flickered his two-forked tongue from his lips,  
and mused a moment,  
And stooped and drank a little more,  
Being earth-brown, earth-golden from the burning bowels of the Earth.]_

***

It was night and Yut-Lung was waiting for Blanca in his room.  
When he heard a knock, he let the man entered.  
Blanca wasn’t wearing his pajama, ‘cause he didn’t intend to stay; for Yut-Lung wasn’t a problem how he was dressing: in fact, he planned to undress him.  
The body of Yut-Lung was enveloped by a semi-transparent purple nightdress; Blanca could see his chest, his rosy nipples, the navel, his feminine underwear -a little tight ‘cause his male body-shape.  
Blanca swallowed in front of that attractive figure.  
He was not like Ash: Ash had the beauty of an angel (his eyes, skin and hair had angelic features); Yut-Lung had nothing about Heaven: he had a fleshy beauty, with his long hair down like a woman.  
Both children had prayers in their eyes, but their hands sought for help in a different ways: Ash had his hands outstretched toward people’s face and he hold a knife to protect himself; Yut-Lung had his hands outstretched toward people’s body and he hold nothing, but offer a cup of shameless hate he wanted drown together in.

“Have a sit.”

Yut-Lung invited him in his bed with a gesture, so Blanca sat on the side of the bed, gazing at him.  
He wasn’t sure what to expect from his Master - ... more or less.  
Yut-Lung walked towards him until he was in front of the man; then, he sat on his thighs, pressing his ass on the white trousers.  
He lifted the hem of the nightgown and revealed the lace panties; his hand reached out his crotch inside the ladies’ underwear.  
'Nh', he moaned as his fingers pulled out the dick and began to rub it, touching the skin, which became harder and harder.  
Blanca couldn’t do anything, but staring at him; shivers passed through his spine.  
Yut-Lung was so damn seductive. He couldn’t deny that thought.  
All these years, Blanca didn’t feel any kind of arousal, even in the same room with his Master (bathroom in particular).  
But now... how could a man didn’t let down his guard from such attractive vision?  
His body felt warmer as he watched at Yut-Lung’s reddish cheeks, his expression full of pleasure, his slim body, his hand on the hard cock, his open mouth with shortness of breath ‘cause of the sensual gratification he was giving to himself.  
The Chinese boy moved to hide his face on Blanca’s neck; he groaned against it and call his name in a desperate and deep sound.  
’Blanca...’, he repeated again and again and again.  
Blanca bit his lower lip and he needed all his strength to not touch him or his long hair, which smelled like Jasmine. He plunged his nose into the black and wavy, soft mane.  
He let escape a raspy moan and put his hands on the mattress, holding tight the blanket; his hands trembled.

”It’s so frustrating”, Yut-Lung said, his voice cracked, “You don’t even touch me a little bit.  
Maybe you’re really into women.”

Blanca closed his eyes and murmured: “I’m sorry.”

Yut-Lung bit his neck, displeased; and now he was jerking off with anger.  
The rhythm of his hand became more and more faster; the palm squeezed the glans strongly.

Blanca couldn’t see how the fingers of Yut-Lung were working, but his reaction could tell him.  
And his body became too much sensitive, so much that his dick hardened.

“Stop, young Master”, he asked, “Please.”

His erection hurt so bad inside the dress pants, closed into the underwear.  
He didn’t do nothing, only pissing and moaning. His body was stiff and boiling.

Yut-Lung had different feelings, a mix of satisfaction and disappointment.  
He sensed the hardness of Blanca’s crotch against his hand, but the man didn’t touch him, nor throw him on the bed and love him all night long. Blanca was only rejecting him.  
And that’s why he couldn’t try to sneak his fingers into his underclothes.

When he came, he swallowed a groan, remained silent.

He got off from his lap and turned his back to the man; he got dressed without speaking.  
He was crying.

Blanca sighed; the situation sucked: he only wanted to not lay a finger on his Master, like everybody did before; he wanted to not see him like a whore or a sexual entertainment. He was a person to him, not an object.  
But he was misunderstood: because Yut-Lung didn't know kindness, he couldn't appreciate what he didn't understand.

“I-”, Blanca tried to speak, but the Chinese shut him down:

“Get out!”

Blanca wanted to reassure him, to hug him from behind.  
He felt guilty.  
He wanted to do a lot of things to help him feeling better, to comfort him; and he could do a lot of things about it.  
But he only obeyed.

_[The voice of my education said to me  
He must be killed,  
[...] The black snakes are innocent,  
The gold are venomous._

_And voices in me said, ‘If you were a man  
You would take a stick and break him now,  
and finish him off’._

_But I must confess how I liked him,  
How glad I was he had come like a guest in quiet,  
to drink at my water-trough  
And depart peaceful, pacified, and thankless,  
Into the burning bowels of his earth?]_


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone!✿  
> Thank you for your support!  
> Today I offer you a little chapter, I'm sooo sorry! The next one will be longer and more intriguing, I promise!  
> I'm working on it right now, but I wanted to post something for you anyway! (>//v//<)/ ✿  
> 

The days after that 'accident' -as Blanca referred to it in its mind- were... surprisingly normal.  
Both of them pretended nothing happened.  
But Yut-Lung was often salty with him: speaking with acid tone, having irritated manners.  
He was clearly upset.  
Blanca let it slide and was always gently with his Master: he thought maybe he would calm down.

***

On that day, Yut-Lung had a business meeting with a subordinate of Dino Golzine.  
Blanca was waiting for them in the living room, but they weren’t coming.

So, he went looking for his Master in the big house of him and he noticed the bedroom's door closed.  
Shit.  
He knew what was happening there, but he knocked anyway.  
No answers.  
He insisted, knocking again with more strength.  


"I'm busy! Fuck off!", Yut-Lung screamed. His breath was... a little laboured.

Blanca frowned and leaned with the back on the door.  
He hated how Yut-Lung sold his body and how these filthy men put their hands on it, using him like a toy. He didn’t want to Yut-Lung be like Ash; but the Chinese boy seemed to enjoy it, or, at least, to be okay with it.  
But Blanca knew there was more than that. He knew Yut-Lung was more than that: he had to be more than a toy.  
There must be something he liked, some music he listened... even if his world was different from the other people; even if his life had been always full of desire, abuses and shady affairs.

Blanca waited for him in the living room.

When Yut-Lung entered in the lounge (the man was gone), Blanca searched for red marks on his neck or other signs on his body, but Yut-Lung was clothed from head to toe.  
Blanca felt nervous.

He had prepared tea for his Master, so he filled the two little cups, pouring the hot jasmine-flavoured water from the teapot.  
He sat on the couch and Yut-Lung did the same.

“Thank you”, he said and took a look at him.

“No problem.  
You must be tired.”

”Mmmh?”  
Yut-Lung didn’t understand if he was sarcastic.  
“The negotiation was successful.”

“Pardon my asking: did you have sex with him?”

“Kinda.  
Are you jealous?”

“I was worried.”

“Don’t make me laugh.”

“It’s true.  
But I was worried in vain.”

Yut-Lung didn’t drink his cup of tea and stared a him. He spoke in a serious tone:  
“Are you trying to be forgiven?”

“I’m not asking for forgiveness.”

“But you know that I’m mad at you.”

“And I am sorry about that.  
But... what happened the other day...  
I really couldn’t lay a finger on you. Because I respect you and I didn’t want to treat you like... everyone.  
With sex like that, we cannot create a bond.”  
Blanca explained.

Yut-Lung shrank back as Blanca tried to approach him with a gentle touch on his head:  
“I don’t need any bond, I only need to be noticed by you.  
Your eyes... are distant: they are always looking for someone else, somewhere else.”

Blanca stayed silent for a moment.  
He didn’t want to seem distant; he wanted to get closer to him, but he didn’t know how: everything he did seemed to break Yut-Lung’s heart.  
Finally, he spoke:  
“ _I care for you_.”  
And then, he left the room.

Yut-Lung froze at those words: nobody cared for him. Never.  
He curled up and hid his face in the knees. His cheeks were burning and his eyes teary.  
His head hurt from confusion.

The tea got cold.

  


  


_[Was it cowardice, that I dared not kill him?  
Was it perversity, that I longed to talk to him?  
Was it humility, to feel honoured?  
I felt so honoured.]_


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here I am!  
> Thank you guys for all the comments, bookmarks and kudos (´｡• ᵕ •｡`)!  
> This chapter explains the title of the fic!  
> Bonus: thoughts about !!! their !!! feelings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> The next chapters will be longer -and hotter eheh(◕‿◕)/  
> 

//

  


There was a festival in Chinatown that night: stand, lights, fireworks, food, games and stuff from the East Asia.

Yut-Lung Lee wanted to go, so he asked Blanca for company: he needed a guard, it could be dangerous.  
Blanca accepted.  
They didn't talk about the conversation they had a week ago; Blanca tried a lot of times to start the topic, but Yut-Lung changed immediately the subject with a cold tone.

Blanca said the truth about caring: he felt different from the beginning towards his master.  
They shared a lot of moments, a lot of emotions; he wanted to protect him from the beginning, yes, but... now not for the contract between them.  
He wanted to help him 'cause he knew Yut-Lung couldn't save himself on his own, he knew Yut-Lung could let himself die when his revenge will be done; he knew Yut-Lung didn't have the strength of Ash nor the will to go forward. He knew Yut-Lung was empty. And Blanca wanted so bad to fill the hole in his heart.  
Maybe... his feelings were not only about loyalty and duty anymore.

Yut-Lung, was on the edge of a cliff.  
He was confused by Blanca's words and behavior: caring; take care of him.  
The love Blanca was speaking of had the form of a deep ravine to him; and he wanted run away, but his feet were weak against the rock, the wind was too strong and the big black hole before him so tempting. Was he worthy enough to jump in that scary empty space without dying from the crash?  
The empty space wasn't empty for real: Yut-Lung could feel a cold blow from it, and maybe it was what scared him the most.  
That was the reason why he didn't want to talk with Blanca about their relationship: he didn't want to be pushed down; he didn't want to _fall_.

He couldn't offer nothing in return.  
No one taught him how to love, neither to live.  
He lived only for revenge and loved only with sex.  
Blanca couldn't feel affection for his soul, 'cause Yut-Lung didn't have one.  
He was childish, a little hysterical, sensitive, sarcastic, irritating... but having character didn't mean having a soul.

He wore a white cheongsam with unpigmented and transparent flower lace pattern along the whole length.  
Blanca was surprise by that sight: the grace dressed him so well because the beauty could have many layers.  
He was both elegant and attractive, a fatal combination for every man and every woman.

"What?", Yut-Lung asked, delighted by that look.

Blanca showed a kind smile: "You are beautiful, sir."

"Do you like my cheongsam? In my language it's also called 'Qipao'."

"It's not about the cheongsam, but that's beautiful too, yes."

Yut-Lung blushed: he saw Blanca talk in that manner only with the housemaids.  
What was with him?!

"This was my mom's cheongsam.  
It's white like her: innocent. White is the colour of the victims.  
But I'm dirty and impure.  
So, on me this white means emptiness, coldness.  
I kill people, but there's no colour for them: only black suits my prey. And, luckily, they'll have a funeral for that!", he laughed hysterically.

Blanca felt heavy because of that words. He approached him, but the Chinese took a step back.

"White means also a new beginning or... freedom, sir."

"There's nothing such freedom, don't be stupid."

Blanca shut up for a moment, then continued: "I think it brings out the colour of your hair, so... it looks good on you, sir."

Yut-Lung had his long hair down, leaning on the shoulders.

"Mmh... Do you like my hair so much?  
Do you wanna touch them? Pull them?  
I know a good time for that."

The words were sharp.  
Blanca blushed and didn't respond.  
He preceded the other and went out.  
Blanca was stylish too: he wore elegant trousers and a cream white shirt; his hair tied.

_[And truly I was afraid, I was most afraid,  
But even so, honoured still more  
That he should seek my hospitality  
From out the dark door of the secret earth]_

***

There were a lot of people, dressed in any type of style; the most of them had kimonos.  
The stands enlightened the streets with their warm lights; baozi, jiaozi, takoyaki, mochi, dorayaki, jianbing, cong you bing, okonomiyaki... filled the air with their salad and sweet perfumes.  
Japanese and Chinese culture mixed and met each other in a celebration of their identities inside the city of New York.

Blanca followed Yut-Lung through the trail of bodies; the feminine figure next to him caught everyone's attention, so Blanca got closer, enough to touch lightly the naked shoulder with his arm.  
Yut-Lung noticed and was amazed by that.

"Do you like something to eat, sir?"

"No, and you?"

"Neither."

But the Chinese stopped in front of a stand with masks all over the table: there were a lot of different faces, from animal-like ones to monstrous features.  
He bought a fox spirit mask and put it on his head, without cover his face.  
Then he sat on a bench in the trees, far from the lights, smells, colours, people.  
Blanca took a seat near him.  
With that mask, Yut-Lung lost all his refined charm, which became gloomy; the white was stained.  
So he asked: 

"What did you buy, sir?"

"It's a mask."

"Well... yes, of course. But what is it? A fox... ?"

"Yeah, it reminds me of an ancient chinese story: Daji, the favourite consort of King Zhou of Shang, the last king of the Shang dynasty in ancient China. She is portayed as a malevolent fox spirit in legends and in novels.  
The story is long, but you have to know only this: she's an example of how a beautiful woman can cause the _downfall of a dynasty_."

Blanca relized immediately: it was the goal of his master, to put an end to Lee's bloodline.

"I see."

Yut-Lung continued: "I won't let go of the past."

Blanca looked at him and touched the mask: it was black with red brushstrokes.  
He took it for himself as if he wanted to remove ‘the dark magic spell of the demon’ on the Chinese.

"You have to think about the future too, sir.  
When this is over, what will you do?  
You'll continue to take care of Chinatown?"

Yut-Lung didn't answer.  
He didn't know.  
All his life was about revenge and anything else.  
Maybe he didn't planned to live so long.

"Coming from you, that’s really ridiculous.  
Say, Blanca: you flirt with my maids but you cannot fall in love anymore, right?  
You haven't forget Natasha, don't you?"

"I cannot forget her, but I keep living.  
Yes, I closed my heart, but I know what I want from my life."

Yut-Lung turned to him and whispered: "What? What do you want?"

They were looking at each other in silence now.  
Blanca couldn't look at anything else.

"I want to go to the Caribbean, when everything will be over."

So... he wanted a peaceful life; no more guns, no more dead, no more New York, nor Chinatown... no more Yut-Lung.  
The Chinese felt anger.  
And it was clear by looking at his face.

"Will you let me live, sir?"

"Leave or live?"

"... I'm asking for both things."

A bitter laugh fell from his lips: "Yes, I will.  
After all, _**snakes don't prey on humans**_."

The mask fell from Blanca's hands.  
To Yut-Lung, his own brothers, Ash and even himself, weren't "human"; only monsters.  
Behind the malicious fox spirit, there was a snake; Blanca sometimes forgot it.  
And a snake sheds his skin, but remained a snake. 

Blanca had to thank for that.

_[He drank enough  
[...] And slowly, very slowly, as if thrice adream,  
Proceeded to draw his slow lenght curving round  
And climb again the broken bank of my wall-face  
[...] At which, in the intense still noon, I stared with fascination]_


End file.
